The local firefighters union said of the 13 hotshots denied full benefits, Andrew Ashcraft was the only one to work 40 hours a week year round. Mr Ashcraft also sent his wife a picture of their view of the smoke and flames from his team's lunch spot on Sunday, and Juliann said that she was not particularly concerned when she saw it. - photo by Stuart Johnson, Deseret News Among the victims was Billy Warneke, a Marine Corps veteran who served a tour in Iraq and who was expecting his first child with his wife Roxanne this December, family told The Press Enterprise. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. 'We grieve for the family. "I want to be able to just be mourning my husband, be supporting. Juliann Ashcraft, the widow of Andrew Ashcraft, speaks during an interview at her home in Queen Creek, Arizona. I wanted to take her so she could have a positive outlook on fire instead of a negative one, Roxanne said. Ashcraft, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was honored to be a member of the Hotshot crew, and 'he just had a really sweet spirit about him,' Elise Smith, a Prescott, Arizona, resident, told The Deseret News of Salt Lake City. They used to work with your Daddy Billy.. ', In love: Juliann, right, is pictured with Andrew Ashcraft, left, in happier times, Heartbreaking: Not only was Juliann Ashcraft, pictured, devastated to lose her husband, she is now facing raising their four children without the benefits she is entitled to. I looked at my four children and thought, Oh man, I was able to grow up with a daddy and they wont. My heart breaks for them every day, said his widow.Marcina Thurston had been with her husband, Joe, since their sophomore year in high school. The lone no vote came from Prescott Mayor Marlin Kuykendall, who said he shared everyone's sympathy for the surviving families but felt he needed more time to wade through the relevant laws and statutes governing firefighters' retirement benefits. I dreamed of Daddy Billy.. Elite team: A photo from April 12, 2012 shows a squad leader with the Granite Mountain Hotshots training crew members on setting up emergency fire shelters outside of Prescott, Arizona, Last hope: The firefighters deployed the emergency shelters on Sunday but died (picture from April 2012), Emergency shelter: Firefighters dig into the earth and lay in the shelters, hoping the fire will pass over them, At work: Members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots are pictured working in New Mexico last year, Experts: Members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots work on a ridge line in Mogollon, New Mexico last June, Dangerous: Firefighters spray water on a restaurant to help protect it from flames in the Glenn Ilah area, Fast-moving: The fire started with a lightning strike on Friday and spread to 2,000 acres on Sunday, Aid: The Red Cross has set up a shelter at the Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona. Three of the women were pregnant when disaster struck. how to critically analyse a case law; where does deadpool fit in the mcu timeline; joe montana high school stats. That is the way I saw each and every one of them, she said. It cost about $320. He responded that he wished for that too. Please enter valid email address to continue. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Only The Brave isan upcoming film starring Josh Brolin and Jennifer Connelly, which documents the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a heroic firefighting team overtaken by a raging Arizonawildfire in 2013. Another firefighter's son lost his life; Capt. She never took her eyes off his casket until it was lowered into the ground. Asked what she tells her kids, Juliann Ashcraft said: "I just tell them how amazing their dad is. 'Quite literally, my bills are being paid by the good people of the world who are giving donations, because the city of Prescott isn't doing anything for us,' she told the TV station. Nineteen shelters were deployed and some of the firefighters were found inside them, Mike Reichling from the Arizona State Forestry Division told the Arizona Republic. Juliann Ashcraft, an LDS wife and mother, appeared on the "Today" show and CBS news Tuesday morning to discuss her husband, who has been hailed as a hero. I wish for the world could know that they lost this army of honorable men, she said.On the day of the fire, the father of four texted how much he loved his family and shared a photo of the wildfire as the hotshots moved into harms way. A widow whose husband was killed courageously fighting a wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona five weeks ago is being denied the lifetime benefits she was counting on to raise the couple's four young children alone. All the while, I have these precious babies that I just would just give anything to have a mother and father to tuck them in. Overwhelmed with gratitude for the strangers who sent letters and cards and offered support, Ashcraft converted a 40-foot Greyhound bus into a home on wheels and hit the road with her . The fire had stretched out over more than 40,000 acres. Officials have called the fire the worst wildland tragedy in 80 years. Juliann Ashcraft, an LDS wife and mother, appeared on the "Today" show and CBS news Tuesday morning to discuss her husband, who has been hailed as a hero. Right now, we're in crisis. The crew killed in the blaze had worked on other wildfires in recent weeks in New Mexico and Arizona, Fraijo said. But the city of Prescott, where the Hotshots were based, is now claiming he was a seasonal worker, despite him working a 40 hour week year round, and denying Mrs Ashcraft full benefits. 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Andrew Ashcraft, 29, was one of the 19 . Abandoned blue sleeping bag, tents and several wooden shelters are found in woodland close to where police Runaway aristocrat and her boyfriend were spotted stocking up on supplies at food bank in Brighton without Taxpayers are left 31,000 out of pocket after council auctions off its Queen's Jubilee wicker corgi statues School places in chaos: Parents' desperation as one in three children miss out on preferred secondary - with Tragedy of the peroxide Tinkerbell: Ahead of a new documentary, ALISON BOSHOFF recalls how TV siren Paula Don't just stick to the Malbec! They died together - doing what they loved.'. Watch:Elite Firefighters Carry 2 Fawns From Danger Amid Massive Forest Fire, Are Massage Chairs Safe? "Quite literally, my bills are being paid by the good people of the world who are giving donations, because the city of Prescott isn't doing anything for us," she said. Mrs Ashcraft sobbed as she recounted the bravery of her beloved husband and his close unit of highly-trained 'hotshot' colleagues, who were overcome by the ferocious flames in Yarnell. He responded that he wished for that too. Not this time. Juliann Ashcraft, widow of Andrew Ashcraft, who was one of the 19 firefighters who died while battling the Arizona wildfire on Sunday, spoke to "Today" about the final text messages she exchanged with her husband. It turns out that, just a few weeks after the tragedy, one widow, More than once, Mr. Kuykendall had argued against extending benefits for Ms. Ashcraft and her children, telling The Associated Press last fall that it was very obvious she was motivated by greed. 'I asked, "Will you be sleeping out there tonight?"' Fire shelters fail to protect elite fire crew from Ariz. blazeShock over loss of 19 Ariz. firefighters in wildfireLightning sparked deadly Arizona fireA look at deadly U.S. fire crew incidents, CBS News' Carter Evans, who spoke with Juliann Ashcraft, reported on "CBS This Morning": "When I spoke with Juliannshe had many questions. But she's worried what will happen when the dust settles from all of this. British Summer Time begins in March but do you wind your watch forward or back this spring, Healthy mother-of-two, 32, collapsed and died from brain bleed while she led fitness bounce class, Covid gurus Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance warned that shielding wasn't 'very effective' at start of pandemic - yet policy affecting 2.2m Brits wasn't dropped until April 2021, 'Appalled and sickened but not surprised at all': Fury of Covid families as WhatsApps 'show Matt Hancock rejected Chris Whitty's care home Covid testing advice before 43k died' - but ex-Health Secretary insists there 'just weren't enough tests'. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. In the months after the fire, there would be an investigation. "I vote yes.". Nineteen firefighters were killed, Proud: Kevin Woyjeck, right, is pictured with his father, Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Andrew Ashcraft texted this photo to his wife, Juliann, just before he perished in a blaze Sunday. All 19 Hotshot families will receive worker's compensation and a one-off federal payment of $328,000. I feel like we need to do something for these guys, she said. Juliann Ashcraft, wife of Granite Mountain Hotshot Andrew Ashcraft, gave a beautiful talk about her family's gratitude journey after Andrew's death. ', Heartbroken: Juliann Ashcraft wept as she paid tribute to her fallen husband Andrew on the Today show, Final moments: Mrs Ashcraft shared the final image Andrew Ashcraft texted her before the 19 firefighters were killed by the flames. She felt like she wanted to do something to help. Asked what probably went through his mind when he pulled out his fire shelter, Juliann Ashcraft said: "I think probably in that last moment, we have four babies. Her husband, Andrew, 29, was a former rookie of the year on the team and the father of four children, all younger than the age of 6. We love them.'. When they were found on Sunday, all 19 shelters were deployed but some of the men's bodies were inside their individual shelters, while others were outside - indicating just how suddenly they were overcome by the flames. The 4-1 vote came at the same time that an army of Hotshots from around the West was returning to the area to battle a fire near Slide Rock State Park less than 100 miles from where their 19 Granite Mountain colleagues died. She and 18 other families still won't have fathers and husbands around for birthdays and holidays. King World Productions Inc. 2023 Inside Edition Inc. and CBS interactive Inc., Paramount companies. Final moments: Mrs Ashcraft shared the final image Andrew Ashcraft texted her before the 19 firefighters were killed by the flames, An honorary flagpole is shown at the site where the 19 firefighters died, The devastation has been described as a 'moonscape' after an inferno so intense that only the metal part of one chain saw was found, 'It still did not look as catastrophic as it turned out to be,' she said. Another board member, Wade Ward of the Prescott Fire Department, said the question was difficult because "everything that we've gone through and continue to go through is unprecedented. "And we'll miss them. First published on August 5, 2013 / 7:54 PM. To learn more about Only The Brave and how you can support the wildland firefighter communities through the Granite Mountain Fund, click here. First published on July 3, 2013 / 5:33 AM. How did this happen? They remove brush, trees and anything that might burn in the direction of homes and cities. 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